The COVID-19 pandemic influenced many aspects of social and professional life. Physical distancing impacted almost every sphere of human interaction, from grocery shopping to business management. However, the medical field is the one affected the most. One of the most significant changes in the system is brought by telehealth. Telehealth refers to the delivery and management of healthcare in which patients manage some parts of their treatment while receiving remote assistance from medical professionals. Direct communications support health, although they are most frequently digitally mediated. Individuals may stay in their own houses or care centers. Nevertheless, various factors of such an approach present issues regarding quick and efficient treatment and require additional improvement for further adaptation in the system.
The critical point to understand is that the notion of telehealth did not appear only during the pandemic. The concept was developed during the rapid development of technology, and it is proved through the analysis of the system by Ellimoottil et al. (2018). While some obstacles discussed two years prior pandemic were resolved, some relevant problems remain. Such aspects as enrolling and educating patients or evaluating outcomes were done throughout COVID-19 to develop a working patient treatment system. However, the issue of clinicians’ and staff members’ engagement is present in the current situation.
There are a few possible solutions; first, identifying telehealth representatives at every staff level, including executives, clinicians, nurses, and clerical staff, will develop the role-modeling approach. Second, rather than being overly prescriptive with its implementation, e-health teams should explore encouraging practitioners to find aspects of how telehealth could enhance their practices. For instance, the e-health team at Jefferson Health requested every specialist to do at least twelve video visits over a year when the organization decided to initiate an enterprise-wide telehealth program JeffConnect (Ellimoottil et al., 2018). They arranged meetings with all clinical department heads and administrators to identify issues with care delivery and choose a few telemedicine options that might be able to address these problems. Thus, it allowed professionals to develop unique strategies for dealing with complex health issues in various medical fields.
Another factor of telehealth quality, which proved to be crucial in the realization of the method, is technology. Telehealth-related risks include insufficient software engineering and security flaws (Blandford et al., 2020). Future platforms must be safe, dependable, and adaptable enough to meet the needs of professional, governmental, and healthcare institutions. Patients and medical professionals must have confidence in digital solutions to protect the privacy and security of health information if telehealth is to reach its full potential. The most recent data security and encryption systems must be implemented to preserve patient privacy (Blandford et al., 2020). Patients must be aware of their privacy options to protect data and prevent releasing sensitive personal information. Telehealth solutions must be easy to use and maintain, which includes having a good internet connection to maximize digital inclusion. To be inclusive, individuals and healthcare organizations must be financially viable, which may require thoughtful adjustments to funding structures.
Thus, understanding the current trends in the healthcare system and the development of the telehealth phenomenon before the pandemic is vital to developing working solutions. Two main aspects that must be considered are staff and professional regulations according to the new system, including creating a new approach to structuring facilities. The other component of the solution is the digital factors necessary for the efficient cooperation of health institutions and patients. Thus, the development of optimized telehealth requires a complex system of solutions.
References
Blandford, A., Wesson, J., Amalberti, R., AlHazme, R., & Allwihan, R. (2020). Opportunities and challenges for telehealth within and beyond a pandemic. The Lancet Global Health, 8(11), E1364-E1365. Web.
Ellimoottil, C., An, L., Moyer, M., Sossong, S., & Hollander, J. E. (2018). Challenges and opportunities faced by large health systems implementing telehealth. Health Affairs, 37(12), 1955–1959. Web.